CONTROL & AUTOMATION
BOOSTING PACKING SPEED
BRILLOPAK
Ergonomic PakStation eases Morrisons’ manual case loading pains
Potato packs are fed at the optimal ergonomic height to mitigate repetitive strain injuries
Replacing the manual turntable-style potato
case loading system at Morrisons’ Rushden
depot with two award-winning Brillopak
PakStations has boosted packing speed.
Most importantly, the systems have made
the job more manageable and ergonomic
for the team members performing this
repetitive end-of-line task.
Having automated two packing lines around
the same time, site manager Andy Day
says that the thing that shocked him most
about the PakStation was “how much it
transformed the efficiency and tidiness of
the packing line and surrounding area.”
From the outset, the Rushden team was
resolute that the turntable had to go. “It
wasn’t right for the 66 million kilos of potato
packs that are processed by the depot
annually, or our people that had to bend,
twist and turn to maintain a consistent
packing pace,” states Andy.
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PECM Issue 43
The rate in which potato packs come
through the back end automated packing
system previously meant operatives
manually loading straight from the lines
onto conventional pallets, simply couldn’t
keep up. Not only was the backlog a team
stressor, packs would start to pile up and
bump around the roundtable. Presentation
of the packs in the crates was also erratic.
Andy recalls: “Every time a pack rotates
around the table, it’s moving. The longer it
sits on the roundtable and moves for, the
greater the risk of product accumulations.
This can lead to bags dropping on the floor,
product damage, split bags and waste.
Obviously, this doesn’t align with Morrisons
fresh produce quality strategy.”
Being a seven-day-a-week operation
handling up to 14 product SKUs at any one
time, extra capacity was clearly needed.
Yet, physically fitting more people around
the turntable to pack faster was unfeasible.
Space just wouldn’t allow it.
MORE PEOPLE AND PRODUCT FRIENDLY
Protecting workforce welfare by reducing
the duration people work on a specific task,
coupled with enhancing comfort during the
pick and pack process were among the key
catalysts for introducing semi-automated
packing, reflects Andy.
He explains: “During peak times we operate
four packing lines in 12 hour shifts. Like-
for-like we still employ the same volume of
people on the manual lines. Only now, we
tend to use a smaller pool of people and
have the option of rotating them between
packing, crate separation, palletising and
the robotic lines, which offers them greater
job variety.”
Andy estimates that the site’s reliance
on agency staff has reduced by around
40%. He believes that some of this could
be attributed to fewer staff absences as a
result of the more ergonomic system.